Towards the end of the day yesterday, I told my students to check the news before they went to bed. I explained to them that it was going to snow and school might be closed because of the snow. Most of them like the snow, so I assumed that they would be excited, but when I looked around I saw quite a few sad faces staring back at me. I asked them about their sad faces and the said " We like school. We WANT to come to SCHOOL." I was touched by their words and immediately felt bad for being somewhat ambivalent about whether or not I wanted a snow day myself.
I mean honestly, I could use a day off as much as the next person. I am tired, I have a list of chores to do, etc. But then again I like June, the warm sunny weather and the beach a lot more than I like random days off in the middle of January. After talking with the kids though, all bets were off. They wanted to be at school, they did not want it to snow. It is the first time I have heard kids, other than my self, express this idea. When I was in elementary school, I loved school. I loved learning and reading and could never get enough.
At the end of the school day, several parents asked me if I had heard anything yet. I explained that I hadn't, that we would all hear about the same time. I told them how to sign up for text message alerts through the local news stations. I also told them that the district will make an automated phone call to all students and staff after informing the news station. Many of the parents I spoke to yesterday seemed anxious about the possibility of a snow day, but still it wasn't the same sadness that their children exhibited.
So, the question that begs asking is: what is the reason behind these emotions? For my students who are saddened by the possibility of a snow day: DO they love school and or learning so much that the thought of having a disruption to that process is unbearable for them? Is their home life so stressful or unpleasant that school is just a good place to go to escape? Maybe they don't particularly like school, but it is just better than being at home? Maybe they really enjoy spending time with their friends or feel as though they are going to miss something if they are not at school.
And what about their parents? Why so many anxious adults at the end of the day yesterday? Does a snow day mean that they will miss a day of work and therefore a day of pay? I would assume that would create some anxiety if money is already tight. Do the parents simply dislike snow? Is it hard for them to be at home with their children?
The answers remain unknown. Given the intense emotions of my students and their parents, I am hoping that remainder of the winter will be relatively uneventful. I am also uplifted and inspired by my students' comments about wanting to stay in school. It makes me want to stay in school, to work hard to continue to inspire a love of learning inside each of them.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Mr. President
My students and, I suspect, their families, are very excited about Mr. Obama's inauguration. Many teachers in my building used personal time to travel down to DC to be there. One of my students stayed at home with her family to watch history being made. At three, four, and five, they certainly don't know that history is in fact being made. They do know that a lot of people are excited and they are too. They do know that Obama was on television and many of them appeared to have seen the Obamas' first presidential dance.
On Wednesday, I brought in several newspapers. All of the students wanted their own newspaper and they worked hard to share the ones I had. They spent much of the morning looking through the newspapers and trying to find all of the pictures they could of Obama. They tried to compare the pictures in the different newspapers to see if any of them were the same.
Without further ado, here is a smattering of their thoughts and questions:
N: Barack Obama is our president now. That is cool!
S: I saw Obama dance with his wife. That was beautiful
I: Mrs K1 teacher, do you have lunch with Rock Obama? Does he go to your house
D: He is the first brown person to be president
S: Yeah, he is also a dad. He plays with the kids too.
E: Will he ever come to our school? I want to meet him.
I: He is gonna fix things
L: IS Barack Obama still the president?
They had so many other things to say as well, but that is what sticks out in mind the most right now. They are quite fascinated with him and he is a wonderful role model for them. During freeze dancing and musical chairs this week, they started chanting "O- BA - MA. O-Ba-MA, O-BA-MA!" ( Hooray for being able to break a part words into syllables)
On Wednesday, I brought in several newspapers. All of the students wanted their own newspaper and they worked hard to share the ones I had. They spent much of the morning looking through the newspapers and trying to find all of the pictures they could of Obama. They tried to compare the pictures in the different newspapers to see if any of them were the same.
Without further ado, here is a smattering of their thoughts and questions:
N: Barack Obama is our president now. That is cool!
S: I saw Obama dance with his wife. That was beautiful
I: Mrs K1 teacher, do you have lunch with Rock Obama? Does he go to your house
D: He is the first brown person to be president
S: Yeah, he is also a dad. He plays with the kids too.
E: Will he ever come to our school? I want to meet him.
I: He is gonna fix things
L: IS Barack Obama still the president?
They had so many other things to say as well, but that is what sticks out in mind the most right now. They are quite fascinated with him and he is a wonderful role model for them. During freeze dancing and musical chairs this week, they started chanting "O- BA - MA. O-Ba-MA, O-BA-MA!" ( Hooray for being able to break a part words into syllables)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
It wasn't that bad
This morning I was up before the alarm and my brain was in high gear. As is typical for me, I was over thinking and over worrying. What if this... did I do....how about if I....maybe I should.... None of these thoughts were in my control, especially not at 5am. When I finally got t school, I made self stop and look at my room from an outsiders point of view. I sat down and tried to take a few breaths. I then made a list of ten things that "needed" to be done and proceeded to freak out because I did not have time to accomplish all of them. I narrowed it down to three things that I knew I could do well before school started.
My principal came down about 30 minutes after Mr. Director was supposed to arrive to inform me that he hadn't seen Mr. Director. Minus points for him in my book. I strongly value punctuality. I did hear someone speak in September who made me think about that a little, but still. In a school setting we encourage the parents to bring the kids to school on time. As teachers many of us arrive earlier than we need to do. A person with such a serious title and responsibility as Mr. Director should be setting an example to himself. But it was center time, my children were in various locations around the room, all of them seeming to need or want my attention or assistance, so I did not dwell too much on the topic of the lateness. Thanks to the wonderful children for just being themselves.
A short while later, Mr. Director arrived. Since it was still center time, I was slightly distracted when he entered the room. When I had finished my conversation with the child I was working with, I went over and introduced myself. I noticed and was impressed by the fact that he was NOT wearing a suit. A suit is not the right attire for an early childhood classroom. We chatted briefly about the demographics of the classroom. He walked around and jotted little notes. He chatted with some of my students about what they were working on. He and I talked again and he asked me how I felt about the curriculum and how I thought it worked in a multi-aged setting. He asked me what I needed from the early childhood department and if there was anything I wanted to tell him specifically.
What an opportunity! I had a chance to speak to the director of early childhood for the entire district and he was asking me some very interesting questions. I gave the best answers I could in between adding more paint to the easel area, adding more paper for birthday card making at the art area, and helping children at the water table melt ice by spray warm water on it. The kids obviously need to come first, but I just wish I had been clearer and more precise when I did talk to him. It is so hard to have serious, in depth conversation with adults while trying to support my students and their learning. Ms. S, aka super para, suggested I email him to reiterate my main points. What a fantastic idea. During my lunch period I jotted down what I had wanted to say to him and then typed an email to him during my prep period.
I thanked him for visiting and explained what I didn't think I was clear on. He actually wrote me back and thanked me for letting him observe. He said that he wants to support me and the critical work that I am doing. He also asked if I was certified in early childhood education and where I went to school because he noticed that a lot of "things in the classroom looked right".
All in all, I would say that it was a successful visit and follow-up email. Thanks to Christine J and Beth for the comments with words of encouragement and support. Thanks to Ms. S for putting up with me day in and day out through all the silliness and burst of energy and for reassuring me this morning that I had nothing to be nervous about.
My principal came down about 30 minutes after Mr. Director was supposed to arrive to inform me that he hadn't seen Mr. Director. Minus points for him in my book. I strongly value punctuality. I did hear someone speak in September who made me think about that a little, but still. In a school setting we encourage the parents to bring the kids to school on time. As teachers many of us arrive earlier than we need to do. A person with such a serious title and responsibility as Mr. Director should be setting an example to himself. But it was center time, my children were in various locations around the room, all of them seeming to need or want my attention or assistance, so I did not dwell too much on the topic of the lateness. Thanks to the wonderful children for just being themselves.
A short while later, Mr. Director arrived. Since it was still center time, I was slightly distracted when he entered the room. When I had finished my conversation with the child I was working with, I went over and introduced myself. I noticed and was impressed by the fact that he was NOT wearing a suit. A suit is not the right attire for an early childhood classroom. We chatted briefly about the demographics of the classroom. He walked around and jotted little notes. He chatted with some of my students about what they were working on. He and I talked again and he asked me how I felt about the curriculum and how I thought it worked in a multi-aged setting. He asked me what I needed from the early childhood department and if there was anything I wanted to tell him specifically.
What an opportunity! I had a chance to speak to the director of early childhood for the entire district and he was asking me some very interesting questions. I gave the best answers I could in between adding more paint to the easel area, adding more paper for birthday card making at the art area, and helping children at the water table melt ice by spray warm water on it. The kids obviously need to come first, but I just wish I had been clearer and more precise when I did talk to him. It is so hard to have serious, in depth conversation with adults while trying to support my students and their learning. Ms. S, aka super para, suggested I email him to reiterate my main points. What a fantastic idea. During my lunch period I jotted down what I had wanted to say to him and then typed an email to him during my prep period.
I thanked him for visiting and explained what I didn't think I was clear on. He actually wrote me back and thanked me for letting him observe. He said that he wants to support me and the critical work that I am doing. He also asked if I was certified in early childhood education and where I went to school because he noticed that a lot of "things in the classroom looked right".
All in all, I would say that it was a successful visit and follow-up email. Thanks to Christine J and Beth for the comments with words of encouragement and support. Thanks to Ms. S for putting up with me day in and day out through all the silliness and burst of energy and for reassuring me this morning that I had nothing to be nervous about.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Big day
The director of early childhood for the entire district is coming. Tomorrow. To our school. To my classroom. This is the first time since I have had this position that he has come to my classroom. I am not priviledged enough to know the reason for his visit, so that gets my imagination spinning a bit. I am a little nervous and will spend some extra trime today tidying up at the end of the day. I will work to file some papers that I have been meaning to file for a while. I will double check my plan book to make sure that it accurately reflects what I plan to do tomorrow and Friday.
I cannot change my teaching, my routines or expectations because of his visist. Nor can I make more closet space magically appear. All I can do is give it my best. I can try to tell my jitters that thats all they are, jitters. I can lead morning meeting with evidence of organization and preparation. I can enusre that all students have a chance to participate, but I do this on a normal basis anyways. So I will do my best to deliver high quality instruction in a slightly cleaner classroom.
Like I said earlier, I don't know the reason for his visit. I also don't know the length of his visit in my classroom or if I will have a chance to talk with him after. Only time will tell, and jitters will pass.
Jitters will pass
I cannot change my teaching, my routines or expectations because of his visist. Nor can I make more closet space magically appear. All I can do is give it my best. I can try to tell my jitters that thats all they are, jitters. I can lead morning meeting with evidence of organization and preparation. I can enusre that all students have a chance to participate, but I do this on a normal basis anyways. So I will do my best to deliver high quality instruction in a slightly cleaner classroom.
Like I said earlier, I don't know the reason for his visit. I also don't know the length of his visit in my classroom or if I will have a chance to talk with him after. Only time will tell, and jitters will pass.
Jitters will pass
Thursday, January 15, 2009
An alternative to wage freezes
Like so many cities and towns around the country, the city where I work is facing enormous budget deficits for the coming year. The mayor is considering wage freezes. The schools are being asked to cut their budgets by 10-20%. That is pretty significant when you consider that there already is not enough money for basic school supplies like paper. The idea of wage freezes looks okay on paper but still doesn't guarantee that people won't be laid off.
Here is an alternate idea:
School headquarters is located in a really nice, really large building downtown. Many of the schools in the city will be closed as of the end of the school year due to low student enrollment and or poor performance indicators. Sell the big fancy building downtown which is in a prime location. The city will make a good chunk of money of the sale ,which can be used to balance the budget and hopefully generate a little extra money for the coming years. People who work in the downtown building can be relocated to one of the soon to be empty school buildings. If those buildings are good enough to send the children to, they ought to be good enough for the higher level management types of people to work in.
Here is an alternate idea:
School headquarters is located in a really nice, really large building downtown. Many of the schools in the city will be closed as of the end of the school year due to low student enrollment and or poor performance indicators. Sell the big fancy building downtown which is in a prime location. The city will make a good chunk of money of the sale ,which can be used to balance the budget and hopefully generate a little extra money for the coming years. People who work in the downtown building can be relocated to one of the soon to be empty school buildings. If those buildings are good enough to send the children to, they ought to be good enough for the higher level management types of people to work in.
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's not the kids...
It's all the other adults that are in an around a school building.
For starters the custodian started the snow-blower this morning in the basement. For those of you may not know, my classroom, the space where I must teach and children try to learn for 6 hours a day, is in the basement. So it reeked of exhaust for most of the day. A parent dropped off her cherub and complained to the principal that I had the window open. The principal then told me to close the window, despite being aware of the exhaust situation.
Then I had to take a child to the nurse for some yucky possibly infectious mark on one of my students. She asked the student what happened and all he was able to do was point to the mark in question. She told me to ask him what happened and he responded the same way. They nurse then let me know that she couldn't possibly treat him if he couldn't communicate what the problem was. Considering his extremely young age and his disability, how would she have liked him to communicate the cause or reason for this injury?
And as if two incidences of annoying adult behavior are not enough for one day, there is yet another. I understand that "times are tight" and budgets need to be cut. I understand that schools are unfortunately not exempt from these tight, budget cutting times. So in order to save money the principal announced late in the day a "revised cleaning schedule". Basically the rooms on the first floor will get cleaned Mondays and Wednesdays and the rooms on the second floor will get cleaned on Tuesdays and Thursdays and all rooms will be mopped on Fridays. And we come back to the issue of the basement. When exactly will the basement be cleaned? Not just my room, but the other classrooms in the basement, the cafeteria, library, therapy rooms, and the bathroom? We have had a pest problem at least as long as I have been working there. At least half of the students in the school have to eat lunch in their classrooms every single day. Some kids, including mine, eat breakfast AND lunch in their classroom every day. Even though I do my best to clean each day, I am sure I am not perfect and that the other teachers are not either. It would seem to me that in order to prevent pests and general nastiness, that no single area of the building should be left off the cleaning schedule.
Tomorrow is another day, possibly filled with saner adults
For starters the custodian started the snow-blower this morning in the basement. For those of you may not know, my classroom, the space where I must teach and children try to learn for 6 hours a day, is in the basement. So it reeked of exhaust for most of the day. A parent dropped off her cherub and complained to the principal that I had the window open. The principal then told me to close the window, despite being aware of the exhaust situation.
Then I had to take a child to the nurse for some yucky possibly infectious mark on one of my students. She asked the student what happened and all he was able to do was point to the mark in question. She told me to ask him what happened and he responded the same way. They nurse then let me know that she couldn't possibly treat him if he couldn't communicate what the problem was. Considering his extremely young age and his disability, how would she have liked him to communicate the cause or reason for this injury?
And as if two incidences of annoying adult behavior are not enough for one day, there is yet another. I understand that "times are tight" and budgets need to be cut. I understand that schools are unfortunately not exempt from these tight, budget cutting times. So in order to save money the principal announced late in the day a "revised cleaning schedule". Basically the rooms on the first floor will get cleaned Mondays and Wednesdays and the rooms on the second floor will get cleaned on Tuesdays and Thursdays and all rooms will be mopped on Fridays. And we come back to the issue of the basement. When exactly will the basement be cleaned? Not just my room, but the other classrooms in the basement, the cafeteria, library, therapy rooms, and the bathroom? We have had a pest problem at least as long as I have been working there. At least half of the students in the school have to eat lunch in their classrooms every single day. Some kids, including mine, eat breakfast AND lunch in their classroom every day. Even though I do my best to clean each day, I am sure I am not perfect and that the other teachers are not either. It would seem to me that in order to prevent pests and general nastiness, that no single area of the building should be left off the cleaning schedule.
Tomorrow is another day, possibly filled with saner adults
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Joy of Books
This past week, I was reminded once again of how important books can be to students.
I had two students who were creating roller coasters in the block area. They were working really hard, trying to figure out how to make a"loop de loop" with rectangular unit blocks. They were talking about how to make the cars go down the ramp faster, and how high the ramp needed to be in order to get the var to go upside down. They talked about roller coasters all day on Thursday, roller coasters they have been one, ones they have maybe seen on television, materials around the room they want to use next time they go to the block area.
Thursday night I made a trip to my local library to return some books that I had out for a while. After perusing the the new non- fiction books, I strolled over to the children's library to look for books that pertained to curriculum on wind and water. After using the online catalog and finding a few relevant and appropriate books, I had this feeling that I could do more, that I was forgetting something. And then, aha, I remembered the enthusiasm these two students had about roller coasters earlier in the day. I dashed over to the computer, typed in my search terms, and grabbed a book about roller coasters.
I went to school Friday eager to share the books I had chosen with the kids and especially curious to see how those two students would respond to the roller coaster book. They both looked at it excitedly during morning book look. They called me over and asked me to read certain parts of the book aloud to them (This book was a nonfiction text, with amazing photographs and very detailed text. The text was slightly beyond their level, but the "headlines in the book and photo captions provided a lot of information in shorter segments.) They took the book with them into the block area and used one of the photographs as a model for their work that day. Great, so those two kids know directly that there are books about almost any interest, and that they can learn things from books.
The excitement was contagious. Some of the other students wanted to know if I would look for specific library books for them too. Of course!
Happy reading and learning
I had two students who were creating roller coasters in the block area. They were working really hard, trying to figure out how to make a"loop de loop" with rectangular unit blocks. They were talking about how to make the cars go down the ramp faster, and how high the ramp needed to be in order to get the var to go upside down. They talked about roller coasters all day on Thursday, roller coasters they have been one, ones they have maybe seen on television, materials around the room they want to use next time they go to the block area.
Thursday night I made a trip to my local library to return some books that I had out for a while. After perusing the the new non- fiction books, I strolled over to the children's library to look for books that pertained to curriculum on wind and water. After using the online catalog and finding a few relevant and appropriate books, I had this feeling that I could do more, that I was forgetting something. And then, aha, I remembered the enthusiasm these two students had about roller coasters earlier in the day. I dashed over to the computer, typed in my search terms, and grabbed a book about roller coasters.
I went to school Friday eager to share the books I had chosen with the kids and especially curious to see how those two students would respond to the roller coaster book. They both looked at it excitedly during morning book look. They called me over and asked me to read certain parts of the book aloud to them (This book was a nonfiction text, with amazing photographs and very detailed text. The text was slightly beyond their level, but the "headlines in the book and photo captions provided a lot of information in shorter segments.) They took the book with them into the block area and used one of the photographs as a model for their work that day. Great, so those two kids know directly that there are books about almost any interest, and that they can learn things from books.
The excitement was contagious. Some of the other students wanted to know if I would look for specific library books for them too. Of course!
Happy reading and learning
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
